We know a little more today about the move that brings Maurice Edu back to PPL Park, where he’ll dust himself off and get to work for John Hackworth’s young team. Turns out, however, he’s not 100 percent free of the nightmare that his days at Stoke City turned into. His deal with Philly is just a loaner from Stoke. It is a season-long loan with an option to purchase.

About this apparent, raging opposition in Washington, D.C., to United’s proposed stadium there: here is some great context from longtime soccer ace Steven Goff. Among the gems as Goff compares the current stadium talks to something similar with baseball in the not-so-distant past: “For decades, congressmen and pundits … set the agenda by drooling over the idea of the Mudville 9 and seventh-inning stretches in the nation’s capital. They are not as concerned about a soccer team, whose base of support inside city limits is young, hip, diverse and well-traveled.” Nailed it, dude.

A rather quiet off-season (player personnel-wise) came to life around BC Place as new coach Carl Robinson will have some real quality at right back, where Steven Beitashour is now on board to replace the retired Y.P. Lee. As this piece points out, a back line of Beitashour on the right, Jordan Harvey or Carlyle Mitchell on the left, with Andy O’Brien and Jay Demerit holding the middle? Yeah, that doesn’t look too bad at all.

Just south of there, this was kind of surprising. I, along with some others, I’m sure, was looking forward to seeing if former Manchester United center back Mikael Silvestre (pictured above) could rebound from last year’s serious injury and add something to the Portland Timbers defense. But it sounds like he may not even get the chance. There’s ample cover now, plus he’s a high-salaried, 36-year-old coming off a significant injury, so there’s probably some contracting re-working that would need to be done.

The suffering Swans have had their share of poor performances this season — Clement later said January transfer spending “is a must” if the club wants to stay up — but he’s throwing his hands up in the air when it comes to Wednesday’s loss at the Liberty Stadium.

“At times it was horrible to be on the sideline watching that, seeing my side trying but suffering for long periods. They’re not the games that will decide our season but it was hard to watch at times because they were so dominant. For me, one of the best sides I’ve ever come across. So many good athletes, so many intelligent footballers and it’s really hard to pin them down. We actually had some attempts on their goal so I’m disappointed we didn’t get on the score sheet but they were a far superior side to us. We’ve got to put it aside that game. We’ve got Everton away (next) and we’ve got to try and pick something up there.”

All that’s left is for Clement to pick up a clarinet, awkwardly blow into it, then point at Pep Guardiola and say, “He’s good.”

United didn’t have it’s A-game, but that was okay thanks to fine defensive play from star backstop David De Gea and some gutsy tackles from Phil Jones. The goal came when Juan Mata‘s cross was nodded home by Romelu Lukaku in the 25th minute, and United rode that marker for all it was worth to stay three points ahead of third place Chelsea.

How good is Man City? Pep Guardiola‘s bunch have now won a Premier League record 15-straight in a single season, and have scored 52 goals while conceding just 11. Markers 49-52 came from David Silva (two), Kevin De Bruyne, and Sergio Aguero. Tottenham is next.

A ball bounded off Ahmed Hegazi’s body, and off Dominic Solanke‘s body and forearm to give Liverpool its presumed breakthrough, but the call was intentional handball. The Reds had myriad chances to score before that, but instead hand a point to the visiting Baggies.

The chances were there for dominant Arsenal, but the winning goal did not materialize at the London Stadium. Marko Arnautovic did everything but score when West Ham did manage the ball, and Javier Hernandez rattled the cage late, but David Moyes men had to settle for a well-earned point.

8 – Eight different clubs have won more points away from home in the Premier League than Arsenal (9) this season – Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Burnley, Watford, Leicester & Spurs. Issue. pic.twitter.com/waUWHXCws6

Spurs are back in the Top Four thanks to a long Serge Aurier cross that fooled Mat Ryan and a Heung-Min Son deflection of a Christian Eriksen offering. Brighton’s just three points away from the drop zone with the loss.

Claude Puel‘s Foxes are flying, scoring goals for fun and encroaching on the Top Four after a horrible start to the Premier League season. Shinji Okazaki bagged his first Premier League brace, while Andy King and Riyad Mahrez also scored for Leicester, who is within five points of fourth and next faces Crystal Palace. Southampton’s goal came from Maya Yoshida.

1 – This is the first time that two Japanese players have scored for opposing sides in the history of the Premier League. Answer. https://t.co/HOApDbofnv

Wenger was content enough with the result, as he continued to be in the chorus of managers who lament the congested Premier League schedule around the holidays. From the BBC:

“We had so much of the ball, but it was very frustrating because we could even have lost it at the end. They’re happy to defend, they did that against Chelsea and Manchester City, so we couldn’t find the opening and the few chances we had we missed.

…

“When you play every three days, you lose your sharpness.”

That’s true, and to his credit Wenger didn’t try to say West Ham had one day’s more rest (which they did). As Man City runs away with the league and Manchester United doesn’t look fit to drop back to the back, the race for the final two Top Four spots is as congested as the schedule. Arsenal needs to turn some of its shot-heavy performances into goal-heavy cruises sometime soon.